Kevin Pillar to SF Giants for INF Alen Hanson, RHP Derek Law and RHP Juan De Paula

[Terminator]

I don't imagine too many 30yr old regular ball players enjoying being on a team that's in rebuild mode. He was quoted talking about Atkin's plans for waiting until 2022 to compete during ST, maybe he had one foot out the door?

 

He seemed to relish in the fact that he was now the "clubhouse veteran" but you could be right in that some behind the scenes stuff pushed this deal along as well.

[glory]

For what the Jays are trying to do, De Paula > Pillar. Jays were probably not going to get a better prospect than that. 2 win players in their 30's have trouble getting big league deals nowadays.

 

This definitely hurts depth, but Shatkins doesn't care about wins, so they'll just plug whoever is available when they need to.

[Jimcanuck]

Who here actually hates Pillar other than the one obvious moron? He was a useful player that the Jays drafted very late and spent almost nothing on. His tenure here was about as efficient as one could hope when developing a major league roster.

 

To be clear, I didn't and don't hate him. I wanted him moved to let the kids play more.

[Dick_Pole]

Over-under on Pillar's WAR for the Giants: 2.2

 

Jays miss WC2 by two games to make the move extra sweet and the Twins who win the spot end up taking the World Series due to massive underachievement by all the teams they face in the playoffs. Book it. But you know, tank for the pick is always the path to winning!

[KevinGregg]

Yeah, I don't really get this.

 

Alford could use half of a season in AAA to prove he is worthy of an MLB roster spot. It's not like he was good last year.

 

Pillar trade could have easily been made around June or July, and if he was having a bad season you could just DFA him just as easily.

 

We got a decent pitching prospect. We can only go off the publicly available scouting reports but it's possible that the Jays' like De Paula more than whatever we see on the internet.

I think we have to just trust Shatkins here - like you said its not a big difference one way or another so might as well just assume they like De Paula and jumped on the chance to get him.

[Jimcanuck]

Over-under on Pillar's WAR for the Giants: 2.2

 

Jays miss WC2 by two games to make the move extra sweet and the Twins who win the spot end up taking the World Series due to massive underachievement by all the teams they face in the playoffs. Book it. But you know, tank for the pick is always the path to winning!

 

I'll take the under

 

My views have been quite in line with Shatkins lately

[SaskJaysFan_2]

Who here actually hates Pillar other than the one obvious moron? He was a useful player that the Jays drafted very late and spent almost nothing on. His tenure here was about as efficient as one could hope when developing a major league roster.

 

I like Pillar a lot, but he didn't make sense on this team, especially with higher ceiling Alford nipping at his heels. I want this year to be used to see what we have, test out the kids. Pillar just didn't belong with the current mission statement.

[BTS]

Yeah I agree.. Moving Kendrys already facilitated more playing time anyway. It's a long season too, someone is going to get hurt which frees up even more playing time. The likelihood of Jonathan Davis or some other turd OF logging 300+ ABs this year is pretty high right now.

 

That said, I'm not that upset about it. It's a rebuild, we create more roster space for certain young players (while not that valuable it's a thing), we pinch some pennies (another thing), we got a lotto ticket (probably the best thing out of this) and a couple of guys that perhaps the FO sees something in (however unlikely). Not happy with it but meh.

 

I find the idea of clearing room for Anthony Alford on April 2nd to be patently ridiculous. If you're the FO it makes sense to save your bosses the cash while picking up a prospect, but nobody is going to frame it like that. Buck and Pat are going to gush over Alford tonight and talk about how room had to be made for him, and then nobody celebrating this will think twice when Jonathan Davis and a bunch of waiver wire trash combine for 500 PA of sub-replacement-level play this season.

[tercet]

Sigh don't get this I was in the keep Pillar camp..

 

Alford would have gotten a shot eventually this year, but last year he was so bad, he slugged under 350 in AAA, ugh..

 

But #tanknation #torkelson2020

[Spanky99]

Yeah I agree.. Moving Kendrys already facilitated more playing time anyway. It's a long season too, someone is going to get hurt which frees up even more playing time. The likelihood of Jonathan Davis or some other turd OF logging 300+ ABs this year is pretty high right now.

 

That said, I'm not that upset about it. It's a rebuild, we create more roster space for certain young players (while not that valuable it's a thing), we pinch some pennies (another thing), we got a lotto ticket (probably the best thing out of this) and a couple of guys that perhaps the FO sees something in (however unlikely). Not happy with it but meh.

 

Pretty much my take on it.

[Dick_Pole]

I like Pillar a lot, but he didn't make sense on this team, especially with higher ceiling Alford nipping at his heels. I want this year to be used to see what we have, test out the kids. Pillar just didn't belong with the current mission statement.

 

Holy f***, see BTS comments about how Pillar wasn't blocking Alford.

 

The argument was not moving Pillar to make room for Alford, it was moving one of the other 3 or 4 guys that are easily replaceable and won't be missed to make room for Alford if you REALLY wanted to see him.

 

The four-eyes and the Jew are making good on the stereotypes that their kind are conniving geniuses. They purposely leave Alford off the 25-man BUT bring him to Toronto to build up some hype on this meh prospect so that when Pillar is salary dumped it's seen as a good PR move by the casual fans with an IQ of less than 90. Doing that to Hernandez wouldn't have built that level of hype.

[Terminator]

They purposely leave Alford off the 25-man BUT bring him to Toronto to build up some hype on this meh prospect so that when Pillar is salary dumped it's seen as a good PR move by the casual fans with an IQ of less than 90. Doing that to Hernandez wouldn't have built that level of hype.

 

Oh so Alford was already in TO? I've been in Vegas so I'm out of the loop. That's kind of weird he should be playing somewhere not sitting around in TO.

 

That would explain why everyone is convinced he's coming up then.

[Orgfiller]

Is there a worse defensive OF in baseball than that one?

 

For questions like these I usually assume the Padres. I don't think it's the worst, McKinney is a bit below average, Teoscar is awful and Grichuk is at least an average CF. If Alford replaces Teoscar then it's gotta be at least an average outfield.

[Orgfiller]

Oh so Alford was already in TO? I've been in Vegas so I'm out of the loop. That's kind of weird he should be playing somewhere not sitting around in TO.

 

That would explain why everyone is convinced he's coming up then.

 

The minor league season hasn't started yet, he was waiting around in Toronto because it seemed pretty clear that a Pillar deal was going down sooner or later.

[Orgfiller]

I don't imagine too many 30yr old regular ball players enjoying being on a team that's in rebuild mode. He was quoted talking about Atkin's plans for waiting until 2022 to compete during ST, maybe he had one foot out the door?

 

What exactly does that make the Giants then? At least they have money I guess.

[Jimcanuck]

Besides roster considerations, there may have been stuff going on behind the scenes. Pillar may have asked to be traded. The list of considerations is only known to Shatkins and any speculation is just that

[Terminator]

The minor league season hasn't started yet, he was waiting around in Toronto because it seemed pretty clear that a Pillar deal was going down sooner or later.

 

Yes, I get that now. But extended spring training is a thing. Prospects don't usually do that.

[LGBJ29]

Holy f***, see BTS comments about how Pillar wasn't blocking Alford.

 

The argument was not moving Pillar to make room for Alford, it was moving one of the other 3 or 4 guys that are easily replaceable and won't be missed to make room for Alford if you REALLY wanted to see him.

 

The four-eyes and the Jew are making good on the stereotypes that their kind are conniving geniuses. They purposely leave Alford off the 25-man BUT bring him to Toronto to build up some hype on this meh prospect so that when Pillar is salary dumped it's seen as a good PR move by the casual fans with an IQ of less than 90. Doing that to Hernandez wouldn't have built that level of hype.

 

Good god, why do you care this much about such a minor move?

 

Nobody here is parading Pillar leaving, but a fan can be mildly delighted to watch some new faces in a s***** rebuilding year. At the end of the day this move doesn't matter.

[Spanky99]

Oh so Alford was already in TO? I've been in Vegas so I'm out of the loop. That's kind of weird he should be playing somewhere not sitting around in TO.

 

That would explain why everyone is convinced he's coming up then.

 

Started with Davidi's tweet...

 

 

Then...

 

https://www.bluejaysmessageboard.com/threads/8877-General-2019-Blue-Jays-Discussion-Thread?p=1340016&viewfull=1#post1340016

[Ray]

Basically Pillar for a lottery ticket arm in De Paula. About what was expected.

[L54]

Besides roster considerations, there may have been stuff going on behind the scenes. Pillar may have asked to be traded. The list of considerations is only known to Shatkins and any speculation is just that

 

You’ve said this three times and nobody has replied to you. Why continue to speculate when you agree that nobody has any insight?

[L54]

Not a fan of this move at all. Can’t wait to see the newly acquired 27 year old AAAA fodder suit up for Toronto in early May.

[BlueRocky]

My favourite Alen Hanson write-up.

 

Hanson is a fairly limited offensive player as he doesn’t possess much power, doesn’t hit for average or get on base. He can't hit breaking and offspeed pitches (posting whiff rates over 40% against them) but finds playing time as he can play poor to average defense all over the field.

 

Fits right in

[Jimcanuck]

You’ve said this three times and nobody has replied to you. Why continue to speculate when you agree that nobody has any insight?

 

And BTS has repeated it's about money only, 3 times. F off

[bones10]

Will Alford be with the team for tonights game?

[Brownie19]

I'm going to miss Pillar. He was someone who was easy to root for. His all out, sacrifice the body for the team approach, combined with his willingness to give back to the fans (my kids have multiple balls/hats signed by him - I never saw him turn a kid away) endeared him to the fan base.

 

For someone who profiled as a good 4th OFer, he provided excellent value, production and excitement for the team over the past 4 years.

 

I both understand and dislike this move for many of the reasons pointed out above, but I can't help think there are many factors that we aren't privy to and will concede to the experts. I'm excited to see Alford and possibly Biggio get a shot in our OF this year - let's see what we've got.

 

I wish Kevin nothing but the best moving forward. The hate for him on this board is bizarre and unwarranted.

[Slade]

Will Alford be with the team for tonights game?

 

If the trade officially goes through then he should be. I don't think he's left Toronto since opening day.

[Brownie19]

Not a fan of this move at all. Can’t wait to see the newly acquired 27 year old AAAA fodder suit up for Toronto in early May.

 

I mean I think we can pluck Brandon Guyer and/or Austin Jackson off the FA list right now for next to nothing. They can probably provide 90% of what Pillar would.

[FrozenRopes]

Meh. Two players who were recently DFA'd and aren't on the 40-man roster, and a s***** pitching prospect.

 

I don't understand the urgency to make this move. There is currently one hitter that's a) healthy, on the 40-man, and c) not on the 25-man: Reese McGuire.

 

Seriously? I would trade Pillar for Brett Lawrie at this point. At least Lawrie is entertaining. He is a solo dimensional player on the down trend. Same as Morales.

[glory]

Pillar was a good player for the Jays, but are people seriously thinking he was necessary to keep around? He is a 1-2 war player in his 30's in an era where those types of players have trouble getting deals. Plus the team is rebuilding and probably tanking for a top pick (they have made no effort at all to win) so what good is Pillar on the squad even for depth purposes? If Jonathan Davis and Pompey (if he ever gets healthy) end up with a shitload of AB's, then so be it. 2019 means nothing to Shatkins.